


Grow Up

by Sephirotha



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Asperger Syndrome, Bullying, Childhood Sweethearts, F/M, M/M, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-10
Updated: 2014-04-11
Packaged: 2018-01-08 05:21:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1128819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephirotha/pseuds/Sephirotha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was once a group of seven friends. Gentle Angeal, Sassy Genesis, Bouncing Zack, Silent Vincent, Thoughtful Cloud, Smart Sephiroth and Little Anne. But when Anne suddenly refuses interest in the group, what would the boys do?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_There was once a little girl named Anne.  She lived in the city of Midgar with her mother, her father and her older sister Tifa.  On the first day of school, Anne felt herself isolated from the other girls and boys.  She didn’t enjoy playing with Barbie dolls, she enjoyed playing with her teddy bear, Alice.  The other girls had lots and lots of dolls and toys.  Anne only had Alice.  She did enjoy playing with the cars and trains.  But the boys didn’t want her to play because she was a girl.  Girls weren’t allowed to play with boys.  Anne loved reading books though.  But the girls said that was weird.  Girls don’t read.  But Anne still read.  She always read further along after her mother helped her to learn how to read.  She soon asked for more books to read.  She had a growing bookshelf in her room.  Not enjoying her first day at school at all, Anne didn’t want to come back here ever again.  Until she found friends._

_“Why are you crying?”_

_Anne sniffed and looked up, her blood red eyes brimming with tears.  An older boy looked down at her, tilting his head to the side curiously.  He had silver hair that went past his shoulders and bright green eyes.  Anne bowed her head and brought her knees to her chest._

_“I don’t have lots of toys, I can’t play with boys and I can’t read books,” Anne murmured._

_“Well, you don’t need a lot of toys,” the boy said._

_Anne paused and hunched her shoulders._

_“All the other girls have lots of toys,” she said._

_“Why would it matter?  The less toys you have, the less toys you’re going to have to throw away when you’re older.”_

_Anne thought for a moment then nodded._

_“And it doesn’t matter if you can’t read, you’ll learn.”_

_“No, no I can read,” Anne looked up at the boy who pulled a confused face “But the girls say that girls don’t read.  Not even The Murder of Peter Fish.”_

_“Wow!”_

_Anne jumped as the boy’s eyes sparkled._

_“You can read such a hard book at four years old?!”_

_He smiled and bent down to her._

_“I’m still reading it,” he said “I’ve reached Chapter Six.”_

_“I’ve reached Chapter Seven,” Anne puffed her chest out proudly._

_The boy smiled widely and Anne felt herself smile as well._

_“And you can play with us,” the boy spoke after a while “We have one rule.  Our group must be no bigger than seven people.  You’ll be our seventh.”_

_“Really?”_

_Anne felt special and she wiped away her tears.  The boy gave her a tissue and helped her up._

_“My name is Sephiroth,” he said._

_“Sefrirof?”_

_Sephiroth chuckled as Anne tried to say his name._

_“No, Sephiroth.”_

_“Sefirof!”_

_“Sephiroth.”_

_“Sefirof!”_

_“Seph-i-roth.”_

_“Seph-i-roth.”_

_Sephiroth laughed again as Anne mimicked his tone.  Anne frowned but shrugged._

_“My name is Anne!” she said and stuck her hand out for a handshake._

_“Come on, Anne.”_

_Sephiroth took her hand and led her to a group of boys on the other side of the playground._

_“I found the seventh friend,” he announced and Anne clutched onto him as the five boys stood around her, looking down at her curiously._

_“A girl, really?” a boy with auburn hair looked at Sephiroth._

_“Be nice,” a boy with long black hair scolded him._

_“Well it would have been nice to have an all boy group,” the boy with auburn hair huffed._

_The boy with long black hair shook his head and bent down and ruffled Anne’s hair._

_“My name is Angeal,” he said._

_“Angeal,” Anne said carefully but accidentally stretched the ‘geal’ part a bit._

_“That’s cute,” a boy with spiky black hair grinned “My name is Zack.”_

_“Zack,” Anne said easily because it was nice and short._

_“My name is Cloud,” a boy with spiky blonde hair said and crouched down to Anne._

_“Cloud,” Anne giggled “That’s a funny name.”_

_Cloud frowned as the boys laughed at Anne’s reaction.  A boy with black hair and red eyes like Anne tapped her shoulder._

_“Vincent,” he said carefully._

_“Vinsssent,” Anne still had trouble with his name._

_Vincent huffed but seemed to accept her attempt at pronouncing his name.  Anne turned back to the boy with auburn hair.  He sighed and folded his arms, looking down at her and giving her a look which meant trouble if she got his name wrong._

_“Genesis.”_

_Anne whined and quivered at the dangerous tone in his voice.  It sounded like a hard name.  Sephiroth carefully placed a hand on her shoulder and she blurted out._

_“Gen-wuss-sis!”_

_“What did you just call me?!” Genesis snapped and Anne darted behind Sephiroth as Zack roared with laughter._

_“Ha-ha!  She called you a wuss, Gen!” he howled and pointed to Genesis whose face was turning a rather deep shade of red._

_“Shut up!” Genesis snapped._

_Anne didn’t like the loud shouting so she burst into tears.  The shouting faded away quickly and Sephiroth got down on one knee and wiped her tears away._

_“Don’t cry,” he soothed as the others gathered around them “You’re still growing up.  One day you’ll manage to say Genesis’s name properly.”_

_“It better be soon,” Genesis muttered._

_“Genesis,” Angeal grunted and shoved Genesis lightly._

_Anne sniffed her tears up and Sephiroth hugged her.  The boys then decided to take turns to hug their seventh friend of the group.  Anne was reluctant to hug Genesis but he just snatched her and hugged her._

_“Look, I forgive you for saying my name wrong,” he said as he saw the tears that brimmed in little Anne’s eyes “And I’m sorry for being nasty to you.  But we can be friends, even if you are a girl.”_

_“R-Really?” Anne stuttered as she rubbed her eyes._

_“Yeah, well, who cares anyway?” Genesis shrugged “As long as we don’t do any of that yucky stuff like kissing.”_

_“Ew!  Why would I want to kiss you?” Anne pulled a face and pushed Genesis away._

_Genesis smiled and the boys shared a laugh as Anne finally giggled and smiled again._

 ***

What went wrong?  Anne’s tear-stained eyes glared at her reflection as she rested her forehead against the cold mirror.

“You don’t deserve friends,” she uttered, her breath steaming the mirror “Who wants to be your friend anyway?  You’re a wimp, a coward, a fool.”

Her arms were covered in self-inflicted cuts.

“You’re an eyesore,” she continued uttering “They don’t want to have to deal with you anymore.  They’re grown up.”

Fresh tears trailed down her cheeks to mingle with the old that were on her vanity.

“You’ll never grow up.  You’re pathetic.  Why do you still think about them when they clearly don’t want to have anything to do with you?”

She held a razor steady in her right hand and brought it up to her neck.  The clock struck midnight, signalling the New Year and the start of her fourteenth.  Her whole body shook and she suddenly cast the razor aside to the other side of the room.

“Damn it!” she cried “You said you’d end it on your thirteenth birthday!”

She sobbed, covered her eyes and sank into a crouching position, curling her knees into her chest.  She stared ahead, sobbing pathetically and crying harder when she saw the towel that Angeal gave to her for her twelfth birthday.  Even after what had been said to her, she still couldn’t find the heart to throw away anything that they had given her.  Anne hugged herself and rocked herself gently.  If she dared to look around, she would see the other gifts she had gotten from birthdays and Christmases.  The poetry book from Genesis, the action figurine from Vincent, the snow globe from Cloud, the teddy bear from Zack and the beautiful necklace Sephiroth gave her one Christmas.  Anne felt her neck.  It felt weird at first to not wear the necklace but after three weeks, she got used to it.

“Sephiroth,” she whispered then clenched her fist “No, I have to forget you.  You’re out of my league.  We would never go together.  If I even walk past you, she’ll…”

She held back a sob and covered her face, crying again.

“I’m so weak to let her do that,” she whispered “I’m sorry, Sephiroth but I can’t see you or any of the group anymore.  I’m nothing but an eyesore.”

She sighed heavily and sniffed again.  Outside her window, the night sky lit up with fireworks to celebrate the New Year.

 ***

Sephiroth shook his head as he lowered his phone.  The five other boys around him sighed in frustration and Genesis lounged across the park bench.

“Maybe she’s on her period?” he suggested with a shrug “It can be rough for a girl on her birthday.”

“It would explain that uncalled outburst at school,” Vincent nodded.

“That was three weeks ago though, it must be over by then,” Zack frowned.

“Maybe she’s under stress from exams?” Angeal suggested.

“She doesn’t take any exams this year though,” Cloud argued “Nothing important anyway.”

They cast a look at Sephiroth who seemed the most distant.  He stared at Anne’s number on his phone and hunched his shoulders.  He didn’t want to speak.  If he spoke about her, then they would be exposed to his pain.  Why did he hurt like this when he was being ignored by her?  Was this how losing a friend felt like?  Sephiroth shook those thoughts away.  They haven’t lost her, they weren’t losing her, there has to be a reason to her sudden change in behaviour.

“Should we go over?” Zack suggested.

“She might have just fallen asleep?” Cloud shrugged.

“Why?”

Everyone cast another look to Sephiroth as he narrowed his eyes.

“Why would she fall asleep and just simply forget her birthday?” he asked “How could she suddenly just forget all the traditions we had?  It doesn’t make sense.”

“Girls don’t normally make sense,” Genesis shrugged.

“Yeah, Aerith sometimes gets real angry at random times and I don’t even know what I did to upset her,” Zack shrugged.

“Anne made sense!” Sephiroth snapped and turned to them “She is one of us!  She’s part of the group!”

“Sephiroth, we just formed the group when we were six,” Angeal shrugged “It wasn’t going to last forever.”

“Yeah, and we worked our butts off just to all get into the same school as Tifa because we knew wherever Tifa would go, Anne would have to go!” Zack said “Do you know how close I was to a migraine with all the studying?  I mean, is keeping a friendship like this really worth it?”

“However…”

Everyone’s sights turned to Vincent who seemed distant too.

“She is our friend.  She has been acting strangely.  We should help her.  She always bugged us when any of us had a problem and she would try to make us feel better.  We should do the same.”

“I agree,” Cloud nodded “We should try.”

Sephiroth jumped to his feet and briskly walked off to Anne’s house.

“Hey wait, it’s the middle of the night!” Angeal called as the others chased after him.

“So?”

Sephiroth turned to them.

“Three weeks with her ignoring my calls and texts, three weeks and she ignored our Christmas tradition and her birthday tradition, three weeks with me losing sleep and worrying about what could have made her like this, I want to settle this now!”

The five teenagers stiffened and looked at one another.  Zack then nodded.

“I’m up for a midnight visit!” he said “Let’s go!”

Cloud rolled his eyes.

“Alright but I can foresee a stressed Tifa for me,” he muttered.

Vincent seemed to smile.

“She would do the same with us,” he said.

Angeal frowned but sighed.

“I don’t suppose I’ll be able to change your minds,” he grumbled.

Everyone turned to Genesis who flicked his hair.

“She called me a wuss,” he pouted.

“Genesis!”

“Alright, alright, let’s go!” Genesis threw his hands up in defeat.

There was a collective nod and the boys began running through the park under the night sky that lit up with fireworks to celebrate the New Year.

 


	2. Chapter 2

_“Angeal, where are Cloud, Gensis, Zack, Vinwent and Safari?”_

_Angeal looked down at Anne from his book, holding back a snicker at the way she still got Genesis’s, Vincent’s and Sephiroth’s names wrong.  He shifted to the side as Anne sat next to him with her lunchbox._

_“Our class is on a field trip but my parents couldn’t afford to pay the fee so I could go,” Angeal explained._

_“Where have they gone to?” Anne asked curiously._

_“An old chapel by the seaside,” Angeal explained with a shrug “It’s for History.”_

_Anne kicked her legs in the air from her seat, sinking her teeth into a sandwich with a thoughtful hum.  Angeal watched her actions with a distant look.  He had known her for about a year now and she has barely changed.  Apart from the fact that she’s started reading the Nassim Bilverdi series whenever she could find a spot where no adults would find her and take the book away from her.  Angeal only knew that the books were violent and Anne’s parents do not approve of her reading them and have no idea where she gets them from.  As it turned out, she steals them from Genesis’s parents’ bookshelf whenever she visits._

_“She didn’t give her real name in Beautiful Tears in the end,” Anne muttered softly when their conversation touched upon that subject “But she did manage to fool her father again.”_

_“Anne, how can you read these books?” Angeal asked “They’re only for grown-ups and they’re very difficult.”_

_“Safari helps me read them,” Anne shrugged._

_Angeal laughed and ruffled Anne’s hair._

_“You still can’t even say his name properly,” he said and Anne huffed._

_“It’s hard!” she whined “Besides, Safari is a good name.”_

_She sighed and left the crusts of her sandwich in her lunchbox.  Angeal frowned._

_“You should eat the crusts, they’re good for you,” he said._

_“I don’t like the crusts,” Anne pouted._

_“You’ll grow up faster.”_

_“I don’t want to grow up!” Anne stuck her tongue out “…Maybe a little bit more but I don’t want to turn into a boring old grown-up!”_

_“What’s the matter with being a grown-up?” Angeal asked “When you’re a grown-up, you’ll finally be tall enough to reach that branch on the tree in Vincent’s garden.”_

_“I don’t need to be tall,” Anne grinned “Safari helps me up onto that branch.”_

_“But won’t it feel better knowing you can do it all by yourself?”_

_“Then I’ll find a way to get onto the branch by myself without Safari’s help.”_

_Angeal tilted his head as Anne gave him her dumbapple._

_“Dumbapples are good for you too,” he said and pushed it away._

_“But you love dumbapples!” Anne protested and pushed back “I don’t have a knife to cut it in half with.”_

_“It’s alright, Anne,” Angeal pushed the dumbapple firmly into her hands “I had a dumbapple of my own before you got here.”_

_“Then where’s the core?”_

_Angeal stared at his empty lunchbox then glanced back at her.  She pouted and shoved it in his face._

_“Take one bite,” she said “And I’ll eat the rest.”_

_Angeal sighed and smiled at the younger girl.  He took a small bite out of the apple and sat back to watch her eat the rest happily to herself.  She swung her legs more enthusiastically when she placed the core back into her lunchbox and took out a chocolate muffin.  She tore it in half and offered the bigger half to Angeal.  Angeal shook his head and Anne’s eyes narrowed._

_“Eat it!”_

_“Mmph!”_

_Angeal blinked in surprise as Anne shoved the muffin into his mouth.  He chewed slowly, savouring his first taste of chocolate.  Anne smiled and began eating her half.  Angeal wiped the crumbs from his mouth and stared at the table._

_“Anne, what do you want to be when you grow up?” he asked._

_“I’m not going to grow up,” Anne said defiantly._

_“Everyone grows up.”_

_“I’m not everyone.”_

_Angeal smiled and ruffled her hair._

_“Anne…you’re going to have to grow up one day,” he said with a sad smile._

_Anne huffed and paused.  She then grinned up at him._

_“I want to be a secret agent like Nassim!” she declared as she stuck her thumbs and index fingers out to mimic guns “I can kill people, steal treasures and travel the world!”_

_She began making gun noises while aiming to shoot most of the girls in her year.  Angeal laughed and took her wrists in his hands._

_“Killing people and stealing their things is wrong,” he said as he helped her up onto his lap “And being a secret agent is dangerous, you could get killed yourself.”_

_“Not unless I’m really careful!” Anne grinned up at him._

_She turned to him and hugged him.  Angeal hugged her back and watched the children in the playground play tag and fight over toys._

_“Hey, Angeal,” Anne said softly “What do you want to be if you grow up?”_

_Angeal had to smile at the way she used ‘if’ instead of ‘when’.  He leaned back and hummed._

_“I want to be a builder,” he said “I want to build very big buildings where people can live and meet in.”_

_“But doesn’t it take a long time to build and finish a building?” Anne asked as she looked up at him._

_“Yes but when it’s finished, you’ll feel great,” Angeal smiled “My dad’s a builder, I help him plan his work sometimes.”_

_Anne hummed as she pressed her ear to Angeal’s chest.  She stared ahead in silence for a while before sighing._

_“My daddy’s a doctor,” she said “He works late in his basement.”_

_“Doctors don’t work in basements,” Angeal frowned uncertainly._

_“My daddy is a special doctor,” Anne looked up at him and pressed a finger to her lips with a soft giggle “Ssh, it’s just a secret between daddy and me.  Because you’re my friend, I trust that you won’t tell anyone.”_

_“What does he do?” Angeal asked._

_“He saves people,” Anne answered “He comes out with a little bit of blood on his clothes but the people he saves are just fine.”_

_She giggled and sighed._

_“I don’t want to be a doctor when I grow up though,” she said “I just want to be me.”_

_Angeal smiled and ruffled her hair.  Anne giggled and began talking about other stuff, while Angeal began wondering what kind of doctor would work in the basement overnight…_

_***_

 

Angeal lingered at the back of the group, staring at the makeshift bird table that stood in the front garden of Anne’s home.  It was what she and her father made together before the incident that happened one summer holiday.  Angeal shook his head, trying to get rid of the unpleasant memories that had everyone so scared for a whole week.  Cloud rang the doorbell and they waited patiently, Zack tossing Anne’s birthday present in his hands thoughtfully.

“You really had to get her a football?” Genesis raised an eyebrow.

“What?  She loves a good kick around every so now and then,” Zack shrugged.

“You don’t get girls footballs for their birthday,” Genesis rolled his eyes “And you wonder how you annoy Aerith.”

“Because I hardly know anything about her!” Zack complained “We’ve only started dating at the beginning of last month…”

“Plenty of time to get to know someone,” Cloud said as he rang the doorbell again “Took me two weeks to find out Tifa’s favourite flavour of icing.”

“Yeah…well…Anne’s going to love her football because I know her much better than Aerith!” Zack grinned “And besides, who doesn’t love football?”

“Girls and nerds,” Genesis snorted.

“Genesis,” Vincent said calmly as Cloud rang the doorbell a bit more impatiently “Will you ever grow up?”

“What?  It’s true.  Apart from Anne, not like we’d call her a girl anyway.”

Angeal discretely swatted his friend around the ass, making him jump in surprise and gain a light blush across his cheeks.  He smirked triumphantly as the door swung open and a moody Tifa stood in the doorway.

“Cloud?” she murmured blearily “What brings you here at this ungodly hour?”

“Happy New Year to you too,” Cloud smiled and kissed her forehead “Is Anne still awake?”

Tifa yawned and shook her head.

“No,” she said sleepily and Angeal felt a soft nudge in his side.

Angeal turned his head to see Sephiroth jerk his head up softly to Anne’s bedroom window.  Without much movement, Angeal tilted his head up slightly and saw Anne’s silhouette by the window.  She was awake then.

“Well, let’s wake her up then!” Zack grinned as he bounced to the front of the group.

“She doesn’t want to see you,” Tifa said icily, making him step back slightly “Who would?  It’s the middle of the night.”

“It’s also New Year’s Day,” Cloud shrugged “It’s Anne’s birthday too.”

“We’ll just drop off our presents then leave,” Vincent compromised.

“Didn’t you hear me?” Tifa asked irritably “She doesn’t want to see you, neither does she want to have any form of contact with you.  She spent the Christmas holidays throwing out the stuff you’ve given her.”

Sephiroth shook his head discretely and Angeal’s eyes moved back up to Anne’s bedroom window.  His eyes strained to see but he could just make out the teddy bear Zack gave to her one Christmas tucked into the girl’s arms.  Sephiroth moved his way forward to the group.

“Why?” he asked.

“Why what?” Tifa raised an eyebrow.

“Why does she not want to see us anymore?” Sephiroth asked while folding his arms.

“How should I know?  She’s growing up, hormones and all that stuff, she’s confused…”

“Confused about what?” Genesis raised an eyebrow “About who her friends are?”

“You’re all boys, and pretty damn handsome too,” Tifa smirked and pinched Cloud’s cheek playfully “She feels pushed out of the picture because you all have pretty girlfriends and she’s single and alone.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.

“Ditto,” Genesis nodded.

Angeal shook his head to signal that he didn’t have a girlfriend either.  Tifa blinked in confusion.

“Well, she just feels left out,” she shrugged “Now would you please leave?  I’m sleepy and I just want to go to bed.”

“Will you please let us in?” Vincent asked as he stepped forward.

“No, you’ll wake up mom.”

“We’re not leaving until Anne tells us herself that she doesn’t want to see us,” Sephiroth said defiantly.

“She’s asleep!”

“That’s not true!”

Sephiroth forced his way past Tifa and stormed upstairs.  In the midst of the confusion, the boys managed to sneak past Tifa, Cloud picking her up and carrying her to her room, and followed Sephiroth upstairs.  Sephiroth was straining against Anne’s bedroom door and seemed to be winning as Anne didn’t possess a great deal of strength.

“Just go away, please!” Anne’s voice filtered through to them.

“Not until you tell it to my face that you don’t want to be friends with us anymore,” Sephiroth grunted as he exerted more force against the door.

“I don’t want to be friends with you!”

“Has her voice ever reached that high an octave?” Genesis asked curiously as Cloud came back after throwing Tifa onto her bed.

“Once when Zack poured ice cold water down her back,” Vincent replied and Zack grinned.

“That was fun,” he sighed wistfully “Come on, Anne!  We don’t believe you!  We’re just too damn hot to not be friends with!”

“What’s all this noise?” Mrs Lockhart came out of her bedroom.

“We’re sorry, ma’am,” Angeal said as he stepped up and bowed politely “We’ll just be taking Anne and leaving shortly.”

“I’m not leaving!”

“Cloud, I need some more muscle,” Sephiroth beckoned Cloud over.

Cloud came over and helped him pushed against the door whilst Angeal apologized again to the tired and disorientated Mrs Lockhart and guided her back to bed.  Anne squeaked rather loudly at the added weight and Angeal could hear her feet scraping against her wooden floor.  Angeal watched as the door pried open and Sephiroth cursed.

“She’s blocked the door with a towel,” he muttered “…It’s Angeal’s towel, she hasn’t thrown away our gifts!”

“Go away!” Anne screamed.

“Angeal, need more muscle!” Cloud grunted.

Angeal sighed as he rolled his shoulders before heaving his side into the door.  Anne gasped and there was a thud.  Angeal cursed, he may have shoved a bit too hard.  Sephiroth managed to poke his head into her bedroom.

“Look at me in the eye and say that you don’t want to be friends,” he said.

There was silence and Angeal heard Anne crying.  Sephiroth managed to slip in, take away the towel so the door could open fully and carried Anne out of the bedroom, wrapped in her purple dressing gown, covering her face with her hands.  Angeal lurched and snatched her arm to take a closer look.  Anne jumped and stared at him as Angeal touched the scars on her arms.

“Have you been self-harming?” he asked as the guys crowded around her stretched out arm.

Anne strained against his grip to try and get him to let go but his grip was firm.  Genesis’s eyes widened and sighed.

“Oh, honey,” he shook his head “Emo style does not suit you.”

Cloud shoved him and Sephiroth took Anne’s arm from Angeal’s grip to look at the scars.  He gave her a look before carrying her out of the house and back to the park, the others following close by.


	3. Chapter 3

_“Now be good, Anne,” Mr Lockhart smiled as he bent down to Anne’s eye level “I don’t want Zack’s mother to say that you’ve been a bad girl.”_

_“I’ll be a good girl, Daddy,” Anne grinned and Zack grinned when he saw her cross her fingers behind her back “I promise, I’ll be on my best behaviour!”_

_“That’s my girl,” Mr Lockhart smiled and got up “Well, I hope she behaves.  She can be a handful.”_

_“Oh, don’t worry, Anne is such a sweet girl,” Mrs Fair said as she showed Mr Lockhart to the door “Aerith is coming round too, I’m sure they’ll get along just fine.”_

_Anne blinked as they left the room and turned to Zack._

_“Who’s Aerith?”_

_“She’s a girl too but she’s alright,” Zack shrugged “She lives down at that flower shop with the grumpy old lady.  You remember, the one that whacked me around the head with a broom?  She doesn’t like to play football but she’s happy just watching us.”_

_“Well, OK,” Anne nodded “Is she like other girls…?”_

_“No, she’s nice,” Zack promised._

_When Aerith finally arrived, Anne didn’t realise that she would be really tall like Zack.  Those wide green eyes stared down at her curiously and Anne began shaking, a bit nervous with the meeting._

_“Hello, my name is Aerith,” Aerith said politely and extended a hand to shake._

_Anne shook and stared at her hand warily.  Zack whispered something into Aerith’s ear and she smiled, crouching down to meet Anne’s height._

_“There, is that better?” she asked and Anne stopped shaking._

_“Yeah!” she smiled and shook Aerith’s hand “My name is Anne.  You’re really pretty.”_

_“Aw, thank you!” Aerith giggled “You’re really cute.”_

_“Don’t call me cute!”_

_Zack laughed as Anne puffed her cheeks out and Aerith smiled sheepishly._

_“Aw…but you’re really cute!” she said._

_“I said don’t call me cute!”_

_“Come on, Anne,” Zack said as he took Anne’s hand to distract her “Let’s go and play football!”_

_“OK!” Anne said as they raced outside into the garden, Aerith trailing behind._

_Anne kicked the football when she reached it first and Zack, even though he was determined to beat Anne in their little game, tried his best not to squash her as he made an attempt to tackle her.  Aerith sat herself in a patch of daisies to make daisy chains and watch them play in the sun.  Anne zipped and zoomed around Zack as he lunged and lurched.  It seemed like hours but it probably had only been forty-five minutes until Anne finally collapsed onto the grass with her arms and legs splayed out._

_“I’m thirsty!” she panted._

_“I’ll get some orange juice!” Zack said as he sprinted into the house._

_“I want apple juice!” Anne whined._

_Anne breathed heavily and didn’t notice Aerith coming up to her.  She opened her eyes when she felt hands fiddle with her hair and sat up._

_“What are you doing?” she asked._

_“I made a daisy crown for you,” Aerith smiled and Anne noticed the other daisy chains in her lap “I’ve got one for Zack too.”_

_“You really like flowers don’t you?” Anne said softly as she looked at the daisy crown curiously._

_“I’ve always seen flowers and I think they’re really pretty,” Aerith smiled._

_“They’re pretty but I don’t really like them,” Anne shrugged._

_“So what do you like, Anne?” Aerith asked with a warm smile._

_“I like being with my friends,” Anne grinned “I like climbing trees, playing football and reading with Safari!”_

_“Safari?” Aerith blinked._

_“Well his real name is Sephiroth but it’s really hard to pronounce for me,” Anne huffed as she said Sephiroth’s name carefully “So I just call him Safari!”_

_“Oh, I know him,” Aerith smiled “He’s the smartest student in my class.”_

_“Yeah, I know,” Anne grinned “He helps me with my homework, he’s really, really nice to me.”_

_“I’ve got apple and orange juice!” Zack shouted as he sprinted back out._

_They lounged around in the sun for the rest of the afternoon, Aerith teaching Anne and Zack how to grass-whistle.  Anne got somewhat of a whistle but Zack wasn’t listening to Aerith’s instructions, just blowing insistently on his piece of grass.  Eventually night fell and the three children got into their sleeping bags in the living room, falling asleep.  Or at least Zack fell asleep._

_“Aerith?” Anne whispered meekly when the clock ticked past eleven o’clock “I had a bad dream.”_

_Aerith unzipped her sleeping bag and let the younger girl crawl in, snuggling up to her._

_“What was the dream about?” Aerith whispered._

_“I dreamt that my Daddy was in trouble,” Anne whimpered “I was trying to save him but no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find him.  And then Safari appeared and told me that my Daddy was dead and that they were trying to come after us to kill us next!  I was so scared…”_

_“Aw, don’t worry,” Aerith soothed and hugged Anne “It was only a dream.  None of it was real.”_

_They cuddled each other and drifted off back to sleep.  They were awoken by a loud yell and a dull thud._

_“Hey, where did Anne go?” Zack asked._

_Anne and Aerith giggled.  Anne turned, unzipped the sleeping bag and stuck her tongue out at him._

_“Missed me!” she teased._

_“Ew, you slept together!” Zack pointed to them “Now you’re covered in cooties, Anne!”_

_“Anne’s a girl too,” Aerith frowned as she sat up._

_“Yeah but she was a cootie-free girl!” Zack said “Sephiroth said so!  She doesn’t have cooties!”_

_“I still don’t have them,” Anne assured him “Daddy gave me medicine which keeps the cooties away.”_

_“Really?” Zack said warily._

_“Yeah,” Anne nodded “It made me feel really sleepy at first and when I woke up I felt weird but it makes sure that I don’t get any more cooties.”_

_Aerith frowned at the description and Zack felt as if something was odd.  Anne’s dad was really creepy to be around._

_“Did he say what the medicine was called?” Aerith asked._

_“He called it something weird, chromo form or whatever and I had to breathe it in through this cloth…” Anne said with a shrug “It smelled really sweet but it felt really weird.  But it keeps the cooties away!”_

_Aerith and Zack were still not convinced._

* * *

 

“Happy Birthday to you!” Zack belted out the last line of the Happy Birthday song then threw the wrapped up football to Anne.

Anne jumped and managed to catch the present in surprise and smiled.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Angeal tugged Genesis’s earphone out of his ear, announcing that Zack had finished his awful version of the Happy Birthday song.  Sephiroth kept Anne cradled in his lap, running a finger down the scarred arm with a frown.

“How long has this been going on?” he asked.

“About…three weeks…” Anne replied.

“You should really stop,” Cloud said “They could get infected and then you’d be regretting it.”

“Speaking from personal experience?” Vincent asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I told you, Vince, I was going through a phase,” Cloud said softly with a hardened glare.

“But why?” Sephiroth pressed on “Why the sudden ‘I don’t want to be friends’ anymore thing?”

“It kind of hurt,” Genesis admitted.

“Well think about it,” Anne hunched her shoulders “You’re all popular and I’m just some girl tagging along for attention.”

“No, you’re not,” Angeal shook his head “What makes you think that?”

Anne shifted uncomfortably with a soft grimace.

“Tifa says I embarrass her by hanging out with you guys,” she said meekly.

“No, she’s embarrassed because we’re good friends and she doesn’t understand our inside jokes,” Cloud said with a raised eyebrow.

“And you’re not one to listen to Tifa’s complaints on how you embarrass her,” Sephiroth said.

“Uh, well…Aerith says I shouldn’t hang out with you and I should find some friends that are more in my league.”

“Anne,” Zack put a bit of force into his voice “Aerith _adores_ you.  She wouldn’t ever say that.”

“Well…uh…uh…”

Anne’s eyes darted to Vincent but she turned away.

“Tell us the truth, Anne,” Sephiroth said “Why?”

Anne began to shed her tears and she covered her face.

“Promise you won’t tell anyone,” she squeaked.

“Sacred Seven Swear.”

Sephiroth stuck one finger up, Genesis stuck two fingers up, Angeal stuck three fingers up, Cloud stuck four fingers up, Zack held all five of his digits up and Vincent curled his index, middle and ring finger into his palm, sticking out his thumb and pinky finger.  Genesis scowled.

“I can’t believe we’re still doing this,” he muttered and grunted when Angeal shoved him.

Anne looked at all of them before pressing her thumb into her index and middle finger to complete the gesture for their personal swear.  The boys lowered their hands and Anne sighed.

“Scarlet…has been pestering me to leave you alone for a while now,” she muttered and Sephiroth scowled at her name “And when I refused, she and her friends held me down and took…nude photos of me for blackmail.”

“She did _what_?!” Angeal and Sephiroth seemed more outraged than the rest.

Anne sniffed her tears back.

“She said that she would post them up on the school bulletin boards if I ever told anyone or if she caught me hanging out with you guys again.”

“She’s really desperate to get her hands on you,” Cloud commented to Sephiroth.

“Who else was involved in this…vulgar bullying?” Genesis scowled.

“I…I don’t remember but I think Rosso was there…” Anne muttered and Genesis’s scowl deepened “I don’t think she knows you’re gay.”

“Wait, what?” Genesis’s eyes bulged and everyone glanced at him.

Anne sniffled and stared at him with a frown.

“Aren’t you?” she asked.

“I…uh…I…who told you that I was gay?!” Genesis snarled as Angeal suddenly saw him in a new light.

“Well, no-one, I’m sorry,” Anne grimaced “I just assumed because you’ve turned down Rosso and other beautiful girls so many times and you take on the stereotypical fashions of gay men and I don’t feel embarrassed when I ask you for your advice in women’s wear.  Also, you know more about clothes than me.”

The rest of the boys remained silent as they took in this information.

“Oh yeah, that explains a lot!” Zack exclaimed.

“I never would have guessed…” Angeal said a little dumbstruck.

“Don’t tell anyone about this, I’m not ready to come out!” Genesis hissed.

“Sacred Swear,” Cloud said as he hid his smirk and held up his gesture.

The rest of the group replied by offering their gestures and Genesis held up his with a firm nod to them.  As they continued to talk and open Anne’s birthday presents, Zack noticed Anne glanced at Vincent out of the corner of her eye and grimacing.  He didn’t question it further as Anne held up the fluffy jacket Genesis got her.

“I have your Christmas presents…” Anne said shyly “Tifa will be going to a martial arts event all day on Saturday, maybe you could come then?”

“That sounds like a plan,” Zack nodded.

“We’ll bring our presents for you too,” Vincent said “The present that I got you is just collecting dust on my shelf and I’m getting pretty annoyed at it.”

“What did you get me?” Anne frowned.

“Not falling for that one again, you minx,” Vincent scowled and Anne giggled.

“Zack, I hope you didn’t get me a football goal,” Anne scowled.

“Actually I got you clothes,” Zack hummed “And with that, I’m going to zip my lip!”

Anne huffed then turned to Sephiroth, batting her eyelids.

“Sephiroth…” she pouted.

“Don’t fall for her magic, Sephiroth!” Genesis called.

“Please tell me what you got for me,” Anne pouted and tugged at Sephiroth’s collar.

Zack caught Sephiroth’s suggestive grin and leapt forward, slapping his hands to Anne’s ears once Sephiroth opened his mouth.

“No!  Don’t taint Anne’s innocence!” he declared.

“Oh come on, Zack, I’m not a child,” Anne huffed “I know how babies are made and I know storks don’t deliver them to the parents.”

Zack did a dramatic gasp and Genesis leaned forward when Zack did the dramatic faint.

“Our poor little Anne has grown up!” he wailed as he fell into Genesis’s grasp “No more will I be able to tell her exciting stories of the unanswerable questions that she’ll come across!  No more will I be able to protect her from the cruel adult world!  No more, I say!  No more!”

“Zack, why didn’t you take drama?” Cloud asked with a raised brow.

Anne giggled and Sephiroth shook his head.

“I was going to say that she’ll just have to wait and see,” he said.

“Oh…” Zack grinned sheepishly “Whoops.”

“You have a dirty mind, Fair,” Vincent shook his head with a sigh.

Anne giggled more as Zack began arguing with Vincent about his mind.  She leaned into Sephiroth’s embrace as Sephiroth hugged her protectively.  This was how it should be.


End file.
